ABSTRACT
One of the most neglected areas in any dental surgery is proper stock control. As a result, few practitioners can know exactly what materials or instruments they have on hand, or the rate at which these items are being consumed. A stock card should be held for each individual stock line and kept up to date by the key holder. The deliveries of new supplies should be added to the stock card and the charge out price should be adjusted accordingly. Once an individual surgery has been fully stocked with materials and hand instruments, nothing further should be issued without a requisition being presented. By this means it will be possible to clearly identify the consumption by each practitioner and, if the requisitions are priced and retained, it will be possible to place a value on such consumption.
